Five Great Guidelines For Managing Work And Family Simultaneously

They say that the best laid plans of mice and men are doomed to fail. Not sure how complicated a life a mouse might lead when we're not watching, but it appears well nigh impossible to plan our busy lives around work and family, without any of those additional "days off" devoted to teacher training, weather or illness!

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone and everything were flexible, schedules included and you could simply drop your work commitments at a moment's notice to substitute care for a sickening child?!

1. Where you can – plan. It's true that some of these days are unpredictable, but others may be scheduled ahead of time. The weather is always unpredictable of course, but snow days will only be expected during certain months of the year and inset days are almost always planned in advance, so with a bit of work, they can be placed in a schedule.

The biggest problem of all revolves around sick days, of course. You should do a little bit of planning and preparation work in full anticipation that this day will surely come! If planning really is a problem for you, consider professional coaching to help you get on that track.

2. Hoard your personal days. If both parents or adults in the household have regular work commitments, it's important to try and reserve some personal days for the inevitable sick calling. Talk to your human resources department at work and see if your employer will grant you a certain amount of personal days, allowing you to anticipate the scenarios as best you can.

In many cases you will not have any advance notice, so you need to look at this from every perspective and try and be fair all around.

It would definitely be an advantage if you and your partner have a sympathetic employer who could understand your position. It is very important that you do not use personal or sick standby days for any reasons other than they're intended for.

3. Line up favours. If you have several children to take care of, you should come up with a backup plan as well. In an emergency, maybe you can rely on some care giving help from friends or good neighbours? These favours should be repaid in any way you can think of. With a number of emergency backup plans in place, you'll be able to cope when a sick child or three comes to you.

4. Stock up on vitamins. While on the subject of coping with sick children, remember that any amount of prevention is better than a cure. If you can make sure that your children practise good personal hygiene, eat well, are well rested and in good health, then they're less likely to come down with those pesky, smaller viruses.

5. Be a good forecaster. Keep an eye on the weather forecast during the winter months. Weather forecasting has improved much over the years and if they say there is a threat of a blizzard a couple of days ahead, you can be pretty sure and start making contingency plans now. When a school district is closed, you may well not be able to get to your work either, but if the office is open try and set-up a personal day or plan to work from home if allowed.

Isn't it difficult wearing so many different hats that you don't know which one to put on?

Nowadays, online life coaching can really help you work out which part of your wardrobe to turn to on each occasion! And thankfully, coaching for women can make all the difference between managing and panicking!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!